PORT ANGELES — Marco Rocha has only worked for Clallam Transit for three months, but he’s already driven on every one of its 15 routes, and the Hurricane Ridge shuttle is easily his favorite.
“It’s amazing. Look at the view from my office,” Rocha said Saturday as he gestured at the meadow to the south of the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. “The people are always in such a good mood. They ask you about the wildlife, and on the way down, they’ll ask you about places to eat. I love it all.”
Rocha said he isn’t alone among drivers in preferring the 45-minute trip from the Gateway Transit Center in downtown Port Angeles to the summit of Hurricane Ridge.
“It is a very popular route,” Rocha said.
It wasn’t just the scenery that appealed to drivers, but the riders who were overwhelmingly friendly and well-behaved. There was no starting and stopping to load and unload passengers and no jaywalkers other than deer to watch out for.
Clallam Transit is hoping that its first fixed-schedule route to Hurricane Ridge will become more popular with riders as well. During its first month of operation in June, the shuttle had 632 passenger boardings, but Clallam Transit has not conducted surveys or gathered information on ridership.
“This year it’s something of a pilot to evaluate interest,” said Kevin Gallacci, Clallam Transit’s general manager. “We do know that weather has a lot to do with how many people ride it.”
To attract out-of-town visitors, Clallam Transit scheduled connections between the shuttle and its Straight Shot bus to the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal and between the shuttle and the MV Coho ferry.
Gallacci said they had been “a little late” in marketing the service and had only recently started promoting it in Victoria, B.C.
Nebraskans Ryan and Hailey Miloni discovered Hurricane Ridge and the shuttle when Hailey looked online for something to do after they stopped in Sequim on a road trip they’ve been through the western United States. The next morning, the Milonis caught a bus to Port Angeles and then got on the shuttle to Hurricane Ridge.
“It was so easy, and the drive is so beautiful,” Hailey said.
Another reason they liked the shuttle?
“Our motorhome is 35 years old, and she would not have liked those hills,” Hailey said. “If it wasn’t for the shuttle, we probably wouldn’t have come here.”
The Milonis also liked Clallam Transit’s $3 day pass, which was less than the money they would have spent on gas.
The shuttle fare is the same as any of Clallam Transit’s regular routes: adults $1; youths 18 and younger free; and Regional Reduced Fare Permit holders (RRFP) 50 cents.
However, the fare does not include the Olympic National Park entrance fee, which must be purchased separately. Proof of payment must be shown to the driver prior to boarding.
For the park, the more visitors who take the shuttle means fewer vehicles on Hurricane Ridge Road and an easing of the space crunch at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center parking lot. The lot frequently reaches capacity during the summer, resulting in long lines at the park’s Heart O’ the Hills entrance station.
The shuttle can bypass the line and go straight to the summit.
Nils Andermo, a cyclist and backcountry skier from Port Angeles, said he liked the idea of a shuttle in the summer for the same reason he enjoyed it the winter: avoiding the long waits.
Andermo, who took his bike along for his first trip on the shuttle Saturday, said he had frequently taken the private shuttle service that once operated during the winter.
“You get up early, go to the gate to get in line, and people have to wait,” Andermo said.
The time spent sitting in your car could be time spent on the snow or on your bike.
Andermo said he planned to ride his bike from the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center to Obstruction Point Road, which is noted for its its blind corners and narrow shoulders, and then ride back into town.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he said.
For Jeannie Thompson of Livonia, Mich., it wasn’t the waiting but the road itself that motivated her to leave her car at home.
Thompson had been to Hurricane Ridge many times, but after burning out the brakes on a rental car coming down the mountain on one memorable trip years ago, she vowed she’d never drive there again.
Thompson was thrilled when she learned about the shuttle. She and her grandson, Sherman Thompson, 14, brought a picnic lunch and planned to spend the next three hours exploring the trails near the visitor center and just enjoying a beautiful sunny summer day — all without having to worry about the trip back to Port Angeles.
“I can look out the window and not have to watch the road,” Thompson said. “And it’s only a dollar!”
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@soundpublishing.com.
Nils Andermo of Port Angeles takes Clallam Transit’s Hurricane Ridge shuttle to the summit, where he plans to ride his bike on Obstruction Point Road and then back into Port Angeles. The shuttle is the transit system’s first fixed-schedule route to Hurricane Ridge. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
The parking lot at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center frequently reaches capacity during the busiest summer days, which creates a line of vehicles at the entrance station at Heart O’ the Hills waiting to enter Olympic National Park. Clallam Transit’s Hurricane Ridge that began operating June 1 shuttle can bypass the line and take riders straight to the summit. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
